Bygone days of the desirable streetcar
A FASCINATING new book has been put together detailing the history of the trams which used to run in Scarborough.
And as a bonus Scarborough Tramways also puts the spotlight on the all of the cliff lifts which have operated in Scarborough over the years The Scarborough Tramway Company was launched on May 6, 1904 and eventually operated 28 open-top trams on a 3ft 6in gauge.
The company laid down five miles of track made up of two circular routes and three branches. In Scarborough the trams mainly operated during the summer months and over the years the company was never very profitable. It was wound up on September 30, 1931 and the United bus company took over the trams' routes.
The Scarborough Tramways Company features 120 photographs of trams and cliff lifts operating in Scarorough. Several of the phtographs show trams running along the sea front. One shows the former Grand Pavilion in Foreshore Road with a restaurant, skating rink and cinema showing The Cradle Snatchers in 1927. Another shows a tram passing some seawater swimming baths which is now the site of an amusement arcade run by James Corrigan.
Most of the trams carried advertisement and one can be seen promoting entry to Gala Lane for three old pence. The book contains an interesting diagram of the tramshed which was squeezed between Scalby Road, Wykeham Street and Hampton Road between blocks of terraced houses. Besides the seafront other areas of Scarborough covered by the book include Falsgrave Road, the town centre, Prospect Road, Manor Road and North Marine Road.
The book contains superb photographs of the accident on September 21, 1925, when car 25 skidded on greasy rails and experienced brake failure while climbing Vernon Road. The tram ran backwards, gathered speed, left the track, demolished the retaining wall and crashed through the glass roof of the subterranean Aquarium ballroom.
There are photographs of the cliff lift which runs between The Spa and Esplanade which was Britain's first cliff lift which opened in 1875, Scarborough's second cliff lift ran opened in 1878 between the old North Promenade Pier on the Marine Drive and Queen's Parade. The lift closed nine years later.
The council recently decided to close the lift running from near the Grand Hotel to the Aquarium Top so now there are just two lifts in operation. The lift at Peasholm Gap stropped operating in 1996 and its components were sold to Launceston in Cornwall.
Scarborough Tramways costs 14.95 and is published by Middleton Press, which is based in West Sussex.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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